ASHBURN, Va. – Do the winless Washington Redskins need Robert Griffin III to exhort his teammates more? No problem, he says. Run more? You got it.

Scream. Shout. Take off down the field. Designed play or scrambling. Knee brace or no knee brace. He'll do whatever it takes to get a victory.

"It's not that I want to run more, but I feel like that's what we need, and if that's what it takes for us to win games, then I'm willing to do that,'' Griffin said Wednesday.

"Not that I was going to shy away from that coming into the year. But if that's going to spark us, then I'm willing to do it.''

After saying he needs to be a sterner leader following Washington's 38-20 loss to the Green Bay Packers, Griffin said Wednesday he realizes now the best way for him to lead is to make more plays with his arm and his legs, beginning with Sunday's game at home against the Detroit Lions.

"I don't feel like the knee brace or anything like that is holding me back. We just need energy out there on the field. Period,'' Griffin said.

And Griffin has taken it upon himself to be the energizer.

"I've never been a hype man, (but) I'll be the hype man," he said. "That's what you have to do as a quarterback -- you have to motivate guys and inspire them to go play great. If you feel like the team doesn't have enough energy, you create that energy.

"That's what we're going to do. We're going to get back to balling out. We've just got to get our swagger back.''

That means Griffin will improve on his nine carries for 25 yards. He said he won't force things, but he will look to take off on read-option opportunities if they present themselves Sunday and beyond.

But teammates wonder if he'll be able to flip that switch yet.

"We obviously all know the elephant that's in the room, we all know what it is,'' receiver Pierre Garcon said.

And that elephant is?

"You know, the injury, Robert's knee and knee brace -- what he can and can't do, if he's good or not and if he's ready to roll,'' Garcon said. "We just have to continue to deal with that and continue to play.

"It's going to be talked about all year, no matter what we do, no matter if we win or lose, it's going to be something that's continued to be talked about. We just have to continue to play and play for our jobs."

Griffin said read-option plays have been in each of the first two game plans, but they weren't called because the Redskins quickly fell behind by wide margins in a 33-27 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the season opener, then again to Green Bay.

PHOTOS: Streaks to watch in Week 3

PEYTON MANNING: Broncos quarterback Manning a has 12-4 career record on Monday Night Football. Last week he became the first QB in the Super Bowl era to win 13 consecutive regular season games three separate times. Manning is only player in NFL history to have nine TD passes with no interceptions through first two weeks of season. (Photo: William Perlman, The Star-Ledger/USA TODAY Sports)

LUKE KUECHLY: Since entering the NFL in 2012, Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly leads the league with 187 tackles. He had 14 tackles and an interception in Week 2. (Photo: Evan Habeeb, USA TODAY Sports)

CALVIN JOHNSON: Lions WR Johnson had nine catches for 101 yards and a career-high three touchdowns in his last game vs. Redskins. He had six catches for 116 yards and 2 TDs last week, including a 72-yard TD. It was the sixth 70-plus yard score of his career. (Photo: Andrew Weber, USA TODAY Sports)

COLIN KAEPERNICK: The Niners' QB is 5-0 as starter at home, completing 94 of 144 (65.3%) for 1,379 yards with nine TDs and one interception. He also rushed for 271 yards and three scores in those games. (Photo: Cary Edmondson, USA TODAY Sports)

SAN DIEGO CHARGERS: The Chargers shoot for their fourth consecutive win at Tennessee, and have averaged 37.7 points per game in last three meetings with Titans. (Photo: Christopher Hanewinckel, USA TODAY Sports)

DEMARCO MURRAY: In his last game against the Rams, Cowboys RB DeMarco Murray rushed for a franchise-record 253 yards. The Cowboys are 10-0 when Murray has 18 or more rushing attempts. (Photo: Tim Heitman, USA TODAY Sports)

ADRIAN PETERSON: The Vikings' workhorse running back aims for his sixth consecutive game at home with 100-plus rushing yards and a TD. In past five games at home, he has rushed for 800 yards and six TDs. (Photo: Jerry Lai, USA TODAY Sports)

ANDRE JOHNSON: The Texans WR averages 82 receiving yards per game, the best in NFL history. In his past three games vs. Baltimore, he has 26 catches for 337 yards with 2 TDs. (Photo: Thomas Campbell, USA TODAY Sports)

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The Redskins have been outscored 50-7 in the first half and have yet to score a first-half offensive touchdown.

"The plays are in. We're ready to run them. I'm ready to run them,'' Griffin said. "We just haven't had a chance to do them because we've fallen behind too much.''

Griffin added that figuring he had to run more often "wasn't an epiphany or anything – just a thought. We're all looking to figure out ways to help us succeed. For me, if that's one of the ways to help us succeed, then I'm more than willing to do it.''

Veteran linebacker London Fletcher called Sunday's game against the Lions "as close to a must-win game as there is.'' He said the defense, which has missed a league-worst 30 tackles, must make stops and get off the field -- to allow Griffin to get back to his read-option form.

He added Griffin doesn't need to be sterner, the team simply needs to play better.

"Robert has to do what he feels most comfortable in his role and still be the person he is,'' Fletcher said. "Whether he wants to be stern or vocal, you have to lead the way you are made.

"We have enough stern leaders around here. If he wants to lead that way, it's definitely welcome. Guys respect him if he wants to lead that way.''

Teams are blitzing Griffin more because he has yet to burn them with his legs. He looks uncomfortable, in part, because he's gone from a read-option quarterback to a drop-back pocket passer. He has thrown for 649 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions -- but much of that yardage has been accumulated when games were out of reach.

"RG3 is seeing different defenses then he saw against him last year because it's really a different offense right now -- so he is struggling to adjust physically and struggling adjusting to what defenses are doing,'' NBC analyst and former NFL coach Tony Dungy told USA TODAY Sports. "RG3 just doesn't look the same athletically.

"Hopefully, that will come back, where he is bursting away from people. But right now, he's basically been a pocket passer.''

Coach Mike Shanahan dismissed Garcon's claim that RG3, who didn't take a snap in the preseason because he was still rehabbing the knee, needed to play in those games.

"Dr. (James) Andrews said he could not play during the preseason,'' Shanahan said. "I do feel he played better in the second game. This is a long process. It's not going to happen overnight. This is something he's going to get better at and better at.

"We're not going to abandon our offense. I know it's been two games (and) we haven't been very impressive. But we still have a lot confidence in what we're doing.''